sauce
Americannoun
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any preparation, usually liquid or semiliquid, eaten as a gravy or as a relish accompanying food.
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stewed fruit, often puréed and served as an accompaniment to meat, dessert, or other food.
cranberry sauce.
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something that adds piquance or zest.
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Informal. sauciness; impertinence; impudence.
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Slang. Usually the sauce hard liquor.
He's on the sauce again.
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Archaic. garden vegetables eaten with meat.
verb (used with object)
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to dress or prepare with sauce; season.
meat well sauced.
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to make a sauce of.
Tomatoes must be sauced while ripe.
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to give piquance or zest to.
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to make agreeable or less harsh.
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Informal. to speak impertinently or saucily to.
noun
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any liquid or semiliquid preparation eaten with food to enhance its flavour
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anything that adds piquancy
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stewed fruit
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dialect vegetables eaten with meat
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informal impudent language or behaviour
verb
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to prepare (food) with sauce
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to add zest to
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to make agreeable or less severe
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informal to be saucy to
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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saucesimple
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saucessimple
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have saucedperfect
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has saucedperfect
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am saucingprogressive
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are saucingprogressive
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is saucingprogressive
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have been saucingperfect progressive
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has been saucingperfect progressive
Past
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saucedsimple
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had saucedperfect
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was saucingprogressive
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were saucingprogressive
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had been saucingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sauce
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin salsa, noun use of feminine of Latin salsus “salted,” past participle of sallere “to salt,” derivative of sāl “salt”; see also salt 1
Explanation
A sauce is a nearly-liquid or soft topping or condiment for food. You might prefer your spaghetti with tomato sauce and your broccoli with cheese sauce. The cuisine of every country and region has its own sauces, from chutney served with Indian dosas to Hollandaise sauce on eggs Benedict and caramel sauce dolloped on sticky toffee pudding. You can even use sauce as a fancy verb: "Shall I sauce the beef?" Figuratively, to sauce someone is to speak in an impudent or cheeky way.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Items like honey chicken and cilantro lime sauce proved to be popular.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Some Ohioans were adamant that I try their state’s Johnny dish, the Johnny Marzetti, a decadent casserole with ground beef, sausage, pasta, tomato sauce and cheese.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Scallions and soy sauce arrived because I add them to almost everything, occasionally without proper cause.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
She said it was "a tough one because I have a lot of palettes to appease", with her British-born husband favouring "meat, potatoes and cream sauce" while she preferred grilled fish.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
He even tried to tie a knot in one coil to stop the sauce from spreading further, but it was to no avail.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Last year, Evans told The Times that the interview format, with its squirm-inducing sauces, was a tactic to turn what might otherwise be a typical press tour interview into something raw and real.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Emma Robins, from Reading, says broccoli hidden in pesto pasta is a favourite for her three-year-old son Alfred, as well as veg pulsed into pasta sauces.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Apasta bar with Pasta Garofalo, Carbone sauces, homemade pesto, grilled chicken, vegetables and plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
Football stadiums, air conditioning, the sheer variety—all the hot sauces, and 50 states with different rules.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Finally, the cooking done and the house smelling of spices and sauces, Aunty Uju went upstairs to shower.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ferrell said later that he was glad to be in the back row because it meant nobody behind him got sauced.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
The omakase tower offers a selection of sushi, tuna tartare, spicy tuna crispy rice, sashimi, and rolls — perfect for those who enjoy heavily sauced sushi.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2025
Cook, stirring often, until the shrimp are lightly sauced and opaque throughout.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 12, 2023
Mile 11 of Interstate 55, in Memphis, was sauced up.
From New York Times ● Aug. 31, 2022
"That was good, but now I'd like a leg of Iamb. A whole leg, Just for me, sauced with mint and honey and cloves. Did you see any lambs?"
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Of this generous, very pretty platter, my only sorrow was an uneven saucing, leaving one side somewhat bereft of the overall excellence.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
How does one cram the time capsule of an entire seasoning and saucing life into a 32-quart Igloo?
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2022
But like self-absorbed restaurant owners everywhere, I push for more, hungry for feedback about the roll I selected for the brisket sandwich or the artful saucing of the pasta in her Thermos.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2019
These vegan Philadelphia chef-restaurateurs are especially adept at seasoning and saucing.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 28, 2016
You're a good fellow, Philip, and I beg your pardon for saucing you.
From A Great Emergency and Other Tales by Ewing, Juliana Horatia Gatty
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
